Welcome to Howzat!, the free magazine from www.cricket-for-parents.com.

In this issue, find out what to look for in high-tech cricket shoes, discover how IPL3 is about to hit YouTube, and learn the pros and cons of bowling a googly.

I've missed a couple of Howzat! mailings due to illness, so here's a bumper edition for you to enjoy.

The Right Cricket Shoe Technology for You

I needed to treat myself to a new pair of cricket shoes recently, so here are a few top tips for you based on what I learned from the experience.

After being unchanged for years, cricket shoe design has improved to reduce weight, improve cushioning and increase stability. Heavy, leather soled shoes should now be a thing of the past, and it’s a good move to look for modern materials and design features in your new cricket shoes.

The key change has been from cricket boots to cricket shoes, which build on the technology used in running shoes. Look out for artificial leather construction, with breathable mesh and ventilation, locking support for the heel and Velcro strapping for extra support. Its important that the shoe flexes at the ball of the foot and not the heel.

Extra cushioning comes from modern gel systems and internal padding. But there are no rights or wrongs here, and there’s just no substitute for trying on a pair of cricket shoes to see what feels best for you.

The cut of the shoe is important – ie, its height up the ankle. Bowlers may want to consider a higher cut to give enough ankle support, while a lower cut is more suitable for batting and fielding. Of course, the cost increases with the technology content, and most players will own only one pair of cricket shoes, so value for money means that there’s a balance to be struck here.

Modern lightweight materials make cricket shoes easier to wear for long periods. However, if you’re a star batsman who spends a long time at the crease you might want to consider adding a little weight to your shoes with a reinforced toe box, as being hit on the toe by a fast cricket ball is no joke.

The design of the soles of your cricket shoes is just as important as the uppers. Moulded soles are best with rounded contours in the areas that contact the ground. This is especially true for bowlers, as angular edges give more potential for “turning an ankle” as their balance transfers across the foot.

The spike material and pattern is equally important. You’ll find options for steel or rubber spikes, combination of steel spikes and PU rubber, and full or half cover of the sole. I favour steel spikes, as rubber spikes never gave me enough grip for batting, bowling or fielding. Of course, more steel means more weight, so part-steel in PU rubber mountings are a compromise.

Full or part spike cover might depend on whether the shoes are for specialist batting or bowling. But for most purposes, full cover is most suitable. Most modern spikes are easily removable with a simple tool, so its easy to remove them to adapt to the conditions if necessary. Its also good to tighten your steel spikes before each game, as they can become loose or fall out, and its useful to keep a removal tool and a few spare spikes in your cricket bag.

Cricket shoes live in a harsh environment, as do the feet they’re protecting. So, its good to spend time trying on those new shoes to make sure that they’re the best ones for YOU.

For more info on cricket equipment, visit http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/cricket-equipment.html

Indian Premier League 2010 on YouTube

The third Indian Premier League season (IPL3) starts in Hyderabad on 12 March 2010, when last years champions the Deccan Chargers will take on the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first of 60 matches.

As ever, controversy follows the IPL even before a ball has been bowled. We might have expected that as Pakistan are the current World T20 champions, their players would have been hot property at the player auction in January. But, not one of them was signed up and its still not clear why. Perhaps India – Pakistan politics played a part, maybe the team owners got cold feet over a potential lack of Visas for the players, or did Pakistan’s total loss of recent form just make them poor value for money?

New features this year include a third place play off, and the options of two and a half minute strategic time outs for the fielding captain between overs 6 and 10, and for the batting side between overs 11 and 16. But, will the time-outs be an advantage for the players or TV advertisers?

Other new ideas included a US$7 million cap at the player auction, and abandonment of the icon player status so that the superstars of the Indian national side don’t have to play for their home city.

The top auction price of $750,000 was paid by Kolkata Knight Riders for Shane Bond, and by the Mumbai Indians for Kieron Pollard. But, I think that Bangalore Royal Challengers might have got the best deal by snapping up Eoin Morgan for $220,000.

The biggest new feature of IPL3 is that it will be seen free on YouTube. It will be the first major sporting event to be streamed online and live on this platform, and is a 2 year partnership between Google India and the BCCI. This is a win-win for all concerned – the global cricket audience, internet advertisers, IPL sponsors, and Google with estimated unique visitors of around 11 Million.

The live streaming might even catch the imagination of the USA, where the ICC has advised cricket officials in America to install an IPL model to capitalise on the Twenty20 boom and generate funds for the game's grassroot development in the USA. The Times quotes Lalit Modi as saying, "We hope to be able to provide the fans in the US the live experience of the IPL. We will start with a few matches in the US in the next 18 months or so”.

Cricket has traditionally found it difficult to break into the land of Baseball outside the expat communities. But, if any aspect of cricket can compete with the razzmatazz of US sport, it’s the sheer flamboyance of the IPL, so watch this space.

The TV companies covering the tournament are already grumbling about loss of their media rights. However, the usual transmission issues surrounding live streaming may still mean that TV is the best place to watch IPL3 on the sub-continent. The rest of us might just be able to put up with the odd glitches in buffering and picture quality, just to be a part of the biggest cricket tournament in the world.

For more info on live cricket, visit http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/live-cricket.html

Cricket's Secret Weapon - the Googly

I made my debut for my school cricket team a long time ago, but the key skill that got me there was knowing how to bowl a googly, or “wrong ‘un”. This is a delivery that looks like a normal leg spinner, but turns toward a right hand batsman like an off break.

If you’ve ever faced up to a leg spin bowler, you’ll know that the googly is extremely difficult to detect. To my delight, I found that most junior batsmen had enough difficulty playing a leg break, but a well delivered googly was almost unplayable. The vital words here are “well delivered”, because leg breaks and googlies are difficult to bowl with consistency. As you’ll see, I found this out to my cost but you can learn from my mistakes.

Both leg breaks and googlies impart strong spin using wrist action. At the point of delivery, the palm of the hand faces the batsman when bowling a leg break, but the googly shows the back of the hand to the batsman at the same point, meaning that spin is imparted in the opposite direction. The batsman sees the same wrist action, but he needs very sharp eyes to spot the different timing of the release of the ball.

To bowl a googly, hold the ball as if for a normal leg break, with the top joints of the index and middle fingers across the seam and the ball resting between a bent third finger and your thumb. As you release the ball, rotate your wrist anti clockwise so the palm of your hand faces upwards, the back of your hand faces the batsman, and the seam points towards fine leg.

The wrist and third finger do the work of spinning the ball anti clockwise – flick out this finger toward the batsman. This is difficult to do, but practice makes perfect – try using a soft ball to help improve your wrist flexibility while spinning the ball from hand to hand.

Once you can do this, you can experiment with flighting the ball different ways, and develop intermediate deliveries like the top spinner.

Leg breaks and googlies can be difficult to bowl accurately because of the wrist action involved, so you can expect to be hit for a few runs. But you’ll also take wickets more quickly because they’re so difficult for batsmen to play.

Here’s the big health warning. If you over bowl the googly, your bowling action will get “bitten” so that your natural delivery becomes the “wrong ‘un”, and you lose the ability to bowl a leg break. This happened to me, and has been a massive loss to my bowling even until today. So, please take care to use the googly as a surprise, but deadly weapon.

For more info on cricket skills, visit http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/cricket-coaching.html

Until next time!

Best wishes,